Günther Scheel was born on 23 November 1921 at Dannenburg
in the Elbe region of Niedersachsen. Scheel was posted to JG 54 based on
the Eastern front in spring 1943. Leutnant Scheel was assigned to 2./JG
54. He flew many ground attack missions destroying a number of locomotives
and other vehicles. Scheel recorded his 10th aerial victory on 3 April,
when he shot down a Russian P-39 fighter. On 30 May, he shot down four
Russian fighters to record his 18th through 21st victories. He repeated
the feat on 21 June (26-29). However, it was in July that Scheel was to
make his mark. In the first 16 days of the month he recorded 41 victories,
including eight Russian aircraft, including four Il-2 Sturmovik ground-attack
aircraft, shot down on 5 July (31-38), seven, including another four Il-2
Sturmoviks, shot down on 7 July (40-46), five, all Russian fighters, shot
down on 10 July (53-57) and seven shot down on 13 July (62-67). On 16 July
1943, Scheel shot down a Russian Yak-9 fighter northeast of Bolchow near
Orel. He then collided with a second making a crash-landing in his Fw 190
A-5 (W.Nr. 710 002) “Yellow 8” behind enemy lines. Scheel was reportedly
seen in a camp at Jelabuga in 1946 and received medical treatment at a
camp at Solny in 1948. However, he officially remains missing in action.
Scheel was posthumously awarded the Ritterkreuz on 5 December 1943.
Günther Scheel was credited with 71 victories in
approximately 70 missions. All his victories were recorded over the Eastern
front and included 20 Il-2 Sturmoviks.